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in SPORTS
F Friday thru Sunday, Sept 6 th -8 th
At La Grande Country Club
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FRIDAY-SUNDAY • August 30-September 1, 2019 • $1.50
Good day to our valued subscriber Bill Hermann of La Grande
Daughter of missing La Grande woman still seeks answers
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
Leona LeClair Kinsey went
missing from La Grande in October
of 1999. For the last 20 years her
daughter, Carolyn DeFord, with the
help of the La Grande Police Depart-
ment, has been trying to fi nd out
Business
upgrade
nears its
finish
what happened to her
mother.
“She had her
whole life (in La
Grande). She loved
Kinsey
that town,” DeFord
said of her mother.
“It was home for her.”
Who was Leona Kinsey?
Kinsey moved to La Grande in
1978. She married DeFord’s stepfa-
ther a few years later and set up her
life in the town. According to DeFord,
her mother loved being outdoors and
going hunting and huckleberry pick-
ing. DeFord talked fondly about the
drives they would take as a family to
old homesteads and of her mother’s
love for history and antiquing.
DeFord said her mother also had a
passion for gardening.
“She always had a garden, some-
times two, and she was giving what
extra things she grew to the ladies
across the street or to my grandma,”
DeFord said. “You know, if she had
extra, she was sharing and giving it
to people.”
Kinsey was part of the Puyallup
American Indian tribe. DeFord said
the spiritual connection it provided
Career reflections
See Kinsey / Page 5A
Should
LGSD
annex be
restored?
By Sabrina Thompson
By Dick Mason
The Observer
The Observer
Countertop Solutions
received an upgrade thanks
in part to La Grande Urban
Renewal Agency funding.
The custom manufacturing
and retail business
redesigned and renovated a
space in its building to help
handle the increase of busi-
ness in La Grande.
“The project was going to
happen whether we were
awarded the funding or not,
so having it to offset the cost
was nice,” said co-owner Sam
Jacobson.
Nine years ago, Jacobson,
along with business partner
Chris Loman, purchased the
building at 1417 Jefferson
Ave. that houses Countertop
Solutions. Since then, a portion
of the building has remained
unused except for storage.
Countertop Solutions
builds custom countertops,
cutting granite stone, acrylic
and laminate to service
Baker, Wallowa, Umatilla
and Union counties. Previ-
ously, the business used a
shop in Pendleton, but when
that closed down the owners
decided to turn the vacant
room into their own local
shop for cutting counters.
“When he shut down we
decided we needed to have
good granite happening out
here still,” Jacobson said.
Funding received by the
Urban Renewal Agency,
which totaled $36,789, went
toward pouring new concrete
fl oors, updating plumbing
and electricity and making
fi ghter in 1989 when he started serv-
ing as a volunteer for the La Grande
Fire Department. He served in this
capacity for fi ve years before being
hired as a full-time fi refi ghter.
The La Grande Fire Department
was located on the 1200 block of
Washington Avenue during Cornford’s
initial years with the department be-
fore it moved to its current location at
1806 Cove Ave. Cornford said the new
station has outstanding facilities but
he sometimes laments having to leave
the station on Washington Avenue.
“I miss the old place. It had a lot of
character,” he said. “It is where I grew
up (as a fi refi ghter).”
La Grande fi refi ghters now work
48-hour shifts and then have 96 hours
off. Cornford said that when he
What place does the
95-year-old annex build-
ing have in the La Grande
School District’s future?
The La Grande School
Board began taking a seri-
ous look at this Wednesday
during a work session. The
board discussed a range of
options regarding the build-
ing, which was built in 1924
and now houses a gym used
extensively by the school
district.
The board wants to de-
termine if the annex, about
20 feet north of La Grande
Middle School, should receive
moderate or major restora-
tion work or be torn down.
The board agreed Wednes-
day to have the school dis-
trict hire an engineering fi rm
to conduct a structural analy-
sis to evaluate the condition
of the building.
“We need to have a better
understanding (of what
needs to be done),” said
school board member Joe
Justice. “We need to look
deeper.”
Several board members
said they did not want the
district to begin repairs on
one aspect of the building
only to discover that many
other portions of the annex
need major upgrades.
Board chair Merle Comfort
agreed that the board would
not approve any work until
the district knows if it can
afford them.
Joseph Waite, the La
Grande School District’s
bond and facilities manager,
said it would probably cost
between $2,000 and $3,000
to have a structural analysis
of the building is done.
The annex’s gym receives
the most use of any portion of
the building. The gym is used
most often by La Grande
Middle School for physical
education classes. It is one
of two gyms LMS uses. The
other comprises the west side
of the middle school.
LMS Principal Kyle McK-
inney said the annex serves a
valuable role.
“If we didn’t have the two
See Cornford / Page 2A
See Annex / Page 5A
See URA / Page 3A
Cherise Kaechele/Observer fi le photo
Devin Cornford, right, is retiring after working for the La Grande Fire Department for three decades.
By Dick Mason
The Observer
Devin Cornford retired Wednesday
morning after a three-decade career
as a fi refi ghter for the La Grande Fire
Department.
Rest assured though that Corn-
ford’s commitment to the La Grande
Fire Department, like a timeless
ember, will never be extinguished.
Cornford plans to continue working
as a fi refi ghter for the LGFD, fi lling
in on calls when the department is
shorthanded and even covering shifts
when needed.
“I want to help out when I can,”
Cornford said.
This means that an impressive
set of family ties will remain in place
at the La Grande Fire Department,
for Cornford’s brother, Emmitt, has
worked for the fi re department for
almost four decades.
“We are so fortunate to have some-
one with Devin’s skills and experience
available. It will make a big differ-
ence,” said Emmitt Cornford, who is in
his third stint as the LGFD’s interim
director.
Emmitt Cornford said the City
of La Grande’s nepotism rules have
prevented him from working with his
brother on the same shifts and they
have not often seen each other on the
job.
“I really wish we could have worked
together more,” Emmitt Cornford said.
All fi refi ghters in the La Grande
department, including Devin Corn-
ford, are also paramedics, individuals
who make more ambulance runs than
they do responses to fi res.
Jennifer Fox, the LGFD’s adminis-
Courtesy photo
Emmitt Cornford, right, interim chief of the La Grande Fire Department,
presents his brother Devin with a certifi cate of appreciation from the City
of La Grande for his years of service.
trative assistant, said Devin Cornford
is among the fi refi ghters known for
his ability to extend emotional sup-
port to people during medical emer-
gencies.
“I hear a lot about the empathy he
has,” Fox said.
Emmitt Cornford said that being
able to provide emotional support like
his brother does is critical in emer-
gency situations.
“People need to know they have a
friend, to have someone show they
care,” the fi re chief said.
Devin Cornford is also well known
within the department as an out-
standing teacher, adept at taking new
fi refi ghters under his wing.
“He is very good at working with
people one-on-one,” Fox said.
Cornford began his career as a fi re-
WEATHER
INDEX
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Comics ...........3B
Crossword .....6B
Dear Abby .....8B
Horoscope .....6B
Lottery............2A Sports ............7A
Record ...........3A
Obituaries ......3A
Opinion ..........4A
Outdoors .......1B
MONDAY
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541-963-3161
Issue 103
2 sections, 16 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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